JPH0642892B2 - Assembly device for surgical suture needle - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surgical suture needle assembly apparatus for automatically attaching a surgical thread to a surgical suture needle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a surgical suture needle used in a surgical operation or the like, a needle to which a surgical thread is attached in advance is often used. However, a great variety of surgical suture needles are used, and there are some that have a diameter of 1 mm or less in terms of dimensions, and the surgical thread attached with this size becomes thin.

Conventionally, there are various methods for attaching a surgical thread to a surgical suture needle, but a vertical hole type as shown in FIG. 6 is preferred because it is easy to use. Conventionally, the surgical thread S is attached to the vertical hole type suture needle N one by one by hand, and a hole portion Nb is formed by manually piercing the rear end portion Na called a swage of the arcuate suture needle N toward the distal end portion. It is the current situation that the distal end of the surgical thread S is inserted into and the surgical thread S is caulked by a caulking machine.

[0004]

However, this manual installation has the drawback that not only the skill is high but the work efficiency is low, and the rate of product defects is large, even though it requires skill. In addition, since the operator is visually observing with a microscope or a magnifying glass, eye fatigue is extremely large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a surgical suture needle assembling apparatus which can surely insert the surgical suture into the hole of the suture needle when attaching the surgical suture to the surgical suture needle.

[0006]

A surgical suturing needle assembling apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object has a surgical suture needle operating from a rear end portion of a surgical suture needle toward a distal end portion thereof. In a device for inserting a thread and caulking, a transport mechanism that transports the suture needle to a predetermined position and directs the hole portion in the approach direction of the surgical thread, and a surgical thread feeding mechanism that feeds the surgical thread from a supply source. An insertion guide that inserts the surgical thread into the hole of the suture needle by sandwiching the guide tube into which the distal end of the surgical thread is inserted and the rear end of the suture needle by a positioning mechanism that divides the core to align them. A mechanism and a caulking mechanism for caulking the rear end of the suture needle to fix the surgical suture while the surgical suture is inserted into the hole of the suture needle by the insertion guide mechanism. To do.

[0007]

In the surgical suture needle assembling apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the surgical thread inserted into the guide tube and the rear portion of the suture needle are aligned by a bisecting positioning mechanism, and then the surgical thread is pierced in the hole portion of the suture needle. To insert.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. In FIG. 1, 1 is a crimping mechanism for crimping a suture needle N, and dies 1a to 1d (1d is not shown) are moved from the four peripheral directions toward the center, The rear end Na of the suture needle N can be caulked from two directions facing each other. Further, the stroke of each of the dice 1a to 1d can be adjusted by the micrometers 1e to 1h. The suture needles N are fixed to, for example, the work W, and the works W are conveyed one by one by the conveyance mechanism 2 using, for example, a guide table, and the rear end Na provided with the hole Nb for inserting the surgical thread S is provided. , Is located between the dies 1a to 1d of the caulking mechanism 1.

The first guide portion 3 for guiding the surgical thread S is also provided.
Is a thin tube, and the insertion direction of the surgical thread S is a trumpet shape so that the surgical thread S can be easily inserted. As shown in FIG. 2, the tip portion 3a of the first guide portion 3 is sandwiched by the positioning mechanism 11 that is split in two, and the rear end portion Na of the suture needle N is also sandwiched by the positioning mechanism 11. Therefore, the front end portion 3a and the rear end portion Na are accurately aligned with each other, and the surgical thread S can be reliably inserted.
It should be noted that, at the time of crimping after inserting the surgical thread S, the positioning mechanism 11 is retracted from the crimp stop portion.

The surgical thread S supplied is wound around the bobbin 4, and in accordance with the feeding order, the disinfectant container 5 containing the disinfectant solution, the sponge 6 for wiping off the disinfectant solution, and the surgical thread S.
Is sent by a feed roller 8 for passing through a heater 7 in the form of a thin tube for correcting the curling behavior of the second guide portion 9
It is adapted to be fed into the first guide portion 3 through the. Further, between the first guide portion 3 and the second guide portion 9, a cutting mechanism 10 such as scissors or a knife for cutting the surgical thread S into a predetermined length is provided. Further, a pulling mechanism for inspecting whether or not the surgical thread S is surely crimped after the crimping is provided.

The surgical thread S is fed out from the bobbin 4 as needed. In the process, the surgical thread S is sterilized by the disinfecting liquid in the disinfecting container 5 and, for example, 13 by the electric heating coil.
The bend is corrected by passing through the heater 7 heated to 0 to 140 ° C. The temperature of the heater 7 needs to be set according to the thickness and material of the surgical thread S. After being straightened by the heater 7, the surgical thread S is fed out in the direction of the caulking mechanism 1. At this time, the suture needle N moves together with the work W as shown in FIG. , The tip 3 of the first guide 3
It is sandwiched with a and core alignment is obtained. Then, when the surgical thread S is fed by the feed roller 8, the surgical thread S is
Passing through the guide portion 3 and entering into the hole portion Nb of the suture needle N.

In this state, after passing through the positioning mechanism 11, the dies 1a to 1d are moved in the vertical and horizontal directions to caulk the rear end Na of the suture needle N as shown in FIG. The suture needle N to which the surgical thread S has been crimped in this manner is sent by the transport mechanism 2 in the direction in which the surgical thread S is pulled out as it is, and after being moved by a predetermined distance, the surgical thread S is cut by the cutting mechanism 10. Note that this cutting may be performed obliquely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the surgical thread S so as to feed the next surgical thread S into the first guide portion 3 and the suture needle N.
The insertion into the hole portion Nb becomes easy.

By repeating the above steps, the surgical thread S is automatically attached to the suture needle N, so that the work can be performed extremely efficiently and reliably. Also,
In the process of delivering the surgical thread S, the surgical thread S is heated by the heater 7
The straightening is eliminated by the correction, and a smooth insertion can be performed when the first guide portion 3 and the suture needle are inserted into the hole portion Nb.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the first guide portion 3, in which a cutting portion 3b made of a gap is obliquely provided in the middle of the guide portion 3 made of a long cylindrical portion, and the cutting mechanism 10 is provided at this cutting portion 3b. Is designed to work.

Of the above-mentioned mechanisms, the mechanisms related to the size and thickness of the suture needle N and the surgical thread S, such as the guide portions 3 and 9, are naturally appropriate sizes when the thickness of the surgical thread S changes. It needs to be replaced with a new mechanism. In this case, the mechanism can be replaced as it is, or only some of the components in the mechanism can be replaced.

After assembling the suture needle as described above, that is, after caulking, it is possible to provide means for inspecting whether or not the surgical thread S has been caulked. That is, before or after cutting the surgical thread S that has been caulked, the surgical thread S is pressed to move the work W with a constant force to perform a test depending on whether the surgical thread S comes out of the suture needle N. . In this way, the tensile test is performed,
It is possible to manage the passing rate.

In the embodiment, the dies 1a to 1d are used to crimp simultaneously from four directions, but this may be operated with a time lag every two directions. Also, the dice is 2
It is also possible to use one piece and crimp it once, and then rotate it by 90 degrees with respect to the suturing needle N and crimp it again from the orthogonal direction. Further, it is possible to use three or five dice and simultaneously operate from three or five directions.

The delivery of the surgical suture S can also be performed by injecting an air flow along the surgical suture S from an air nozzle without using the feed roller 8 as in the embodiment. Further, the cutting of the surgical thread S is performed at the same time as the crimping is stopped,
Alternatively, it can be performed before caulking.

[0019]

As described above, the surgical suture needle assembling apparatus according to the present invention can automate the attachment of the surgical suture to the suture needle, which is conventionally performed manually, and ensures the surgical suture. In addition, it can be inserted into the hole of the suture needle, which is a great advantage in terms of efficiency and yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a positioning mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of a caulking stop portion.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a surgical thread is attached to a suture needle.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a guide portion.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a suture needle to which a surgical thread is attached.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Caulking mechanism 2 Conveyance mechanism 3, 9 Guide part 4 Bobbin 5 Disinfection container 6 Sponge 7 Heater 8 Feed roller 10 Cutting mechanism 11 Positioning mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device for inserting a surgical thread into a hole drilled from a rear end portion of a surgical suture needle toward a distal end portion and caulking the surgical suture needle to convey the suture needle to a predetermined position, A transport mechanism for directing the surgical thread in the entering direction, a surgical thread feeding mechanism for feeding the surgical thread from a supply source, a guide tube into which a distal end of the surgical thread is inserted, and a rear end of the suture needle are divided into two parts. An insertion guide mechanism that inserts the surgical thread into the hole portion of the suture needle by sandwiching and aligning with a mechanism.
A surgical instrument characterized by comprising a crimping mechanism for crimping the surgical thread by crimping the rear end of the suture needle in a state where the surgical thread is inserted into the hole portion of the suture needle by the insertion guide mechanism. Assembly device for suture needles.